US1599686A - Transmission mechanism for occupant-propelled vehicles - Google Patents

Description

Se t 14 9 1926.

F. STA'RR ITRAIQSIVIISSIOB] MECHANISM FOR OCGUPAIiT PROPELLED VEHICLES Filed June 8 1925 22 /8 76 INVEINTORW l BY WW TTOR Patented Sept. 141-, 1926.

rem) swans, or OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

'TRANSMISSION"MEOHANISIVLFQR OCCUPANT-PRO PELLED VEHICLES.

,i Application filed'June 8, 1925.- Seria1'No..35,514.

My invention .mrelates in general =to occupant-propelled nehiclesand has-particular reference toga propelling); or transmission mechanism. for such vehicles.

' In its preilierred formgthetransmission inechanismwhas beenwdevisedutor usexin combination with. a childs vehiclesuch as shown and described inwmy Patent .No.'l,500,85-r-, oi July 8,1924. I'llhe: transmission .mechanisin identified :in "the present: application scribed :in. A my uco.-pendi-ng:. application filed Octobe1n28, 1922, Serial: N .o. .597,'-l8-l.

. Bri1el'ly; the principal object'ofiimy present case is to develop a; transmission.mechanism in which a forward or; .reverse dniveanay be .seleetixielyimp arted :to'. the Vehicle andtat1:the

will. of the 013612Li01,..ELIlClJJEllSOpCO .coinbine .therselective' drive'with: means for maintaining thesanie in active ordn'rneutral position. for; coasting. .i'While these: features are: included in my former embodiments,- the present 3ior1n is decided improvement thereover, owing to"its. simple and. other 2-5 salient; features which. will appear the description of :the. invention p roceeds with reference to the accompanying sheet of drawings.

In said drawings Figure l is H a'jjview in side elevation oftheigenerall assembly of the invention. with; part of the same shownin section.

F Q-is adetailed NlGW'lD side-elevation of the. 'crosshead structurewin particular; and

:1; with aside-of atheu housingremoved and Fig. 3 is an-end elevation "of Fig. Qand with .the said removed side in place.

l i' dis; a zplan ofithe general assembly and ,=showing2 i0; advantage the shift lever and notchesforthe Various shifts and 1 Fi x. 5 is a horizontal section through the ore thead OIllthG line 5.5 of Fig: Zwith .the

portionoi. theshiit lever pinkshownin full.

-1 same willwbe described, for: convenience, in

. which is propelled. by theocc-upant thereof Land represent pair 10f: SpaQBCl parall suchlas a lchildsacoasterpwagon, but'itis to frame: linembers for the vehicle. The vehiclewheels {not shown) which are preferably four in number, may be mounted upon axleshung from the. frame rnembersand whichprovide a pair of steering .Wheels and apair or" ground or drive Wheels. The axle for "theground Wheelsv is 'shownat. 5 with the same suspended: fromithe frame members by. suitable brackets or the like 6. This axle 5 .isasthe. rear one and it provides. a mounting; for the drive sprocket, wheel 7 and the sarneis keyed to the axle torotategit, and thusdnipart'therequired driveto the ground wheelsrwhich, are mounted upon the axle so asto rotate with it. v

The sprocket chains, whiclrmay be the ordinary bicycle chain, after passing around thewheel 7 extends} longitudinally. of the frame and around an idler Wheel. 9 which is supportedon bracket 10 secured to the underside of the fireme men1hers and in alignment with (the wheel 7. This makes. a

suitable mounting for the sprocketchain that *thesame .isadapted to travel between the frame, inernbersir and 5 B.

- Topropelthe veh cl the chain Sis driven by means which. ill bepresently described,

a-nd which :chain in .turn drives, the ground wheels through,- the. medium. of the sprocket .wheel I and the axle .hicle seat is represented.bythebrid ebers 11 which ere nounted upon the i in base for the ve- 'e memrains meinhers respectively.

.be seenithat by impertin uprper. limb of the en,

-wheelswill bedriven. in a direction to the vehicle .forwai d,.-whereas by direction. {To accmnplish liteferring to theudrawihgs in detail the -FIO111; lll1O abovefdescribed assenihlyit will mo veinent. to the chain 8. n. the

1 l, the ground direction of the. arrow.

rsine; the, direction of the movement .thewehicle will. be propelled bncliw or in. a reverse ob ect in siniplefha-nd, positive manneris I'BlllVxijhQ crux OiiillQ presentinvention and i. o

i eifer mo -realize the. desiredobject. by 5 the fhllowcombination .:with a vehicle; of the types ing lever (not shown) roclred, .baclrard.

ng structure:

First-ofall Lprovide a pit nan l2 rh ich may bereciprocated. by a handlebar oscillot forth n, is

by the-seated: occupant. The pit pivoted. at :13 lZQa'flIl; upstanding braclre sented in general. b51141, The term crossh will be used to identify the mechanisnr to slide back and-forth between the trains .14 secured to the top of the crossheadreprethese members serving as a guide or track tor the crosshead. This Is made possible by clamping spaced plate 'l'ianges l6 and l? together by belts or the like 18 Fig. 5, to receive the horizontal flanges of the frame m 1. NY a V members. lhe p-ate lb provides a cover J! 4. i. .c 1

101' the lJOncllliO housing OJ. tne (:iosshead, and the flanges 17 are termed as continuations of the sides 13 which extend downwardly in spaced relation, and with their extremities turned inwardly 1n overlapping relation to make up a bottom 20. While the sides 19 are held together by a bolt 21, one of them is further provided with tongues 22 intermediate its top and bottom and the same are bent over to bridge the space be tween the two sides both at the front and rear. The sprocket chain passes through the box-like assembly of the cross-head at both sides of the bent-over tongues 22.

Leaf springs 23 riveted or otherwise secured intermediate their ends to the inside of the top and bottom of the crosshead housing overlie the chain 8 to take up the slack in the same and also hold the chain under spring tension so that it may be engaged by the head 2st in the following man ner: Opposite ends of the head 24 are formed with double-ended grabs or hooks 25 which are adapted to engage the top and bottom limbs of the chain one at a time. and pull the chain along with the crosshead as the latter travels between the frame members induced by the pull of the pitman.

The head 24 is mounted upon the pin 26 which projects through the housing of the crosshead and the said head is secured to the pin by a key 30 which projects through a keyway in the pin, and engages the head at diametrically opposite sides of the opening therein and in which opening the key seats. On opposite sides of the head are plates 31 with rivets or the like 32 securely clamping them to the head and locking the key and pin to prevent lateral displacement of the pin in the crosshead.

The pin 26 at its other end is pivotally connected in any suitable manner with a shift lever L7, positioned within easy reach of the occupant of the vehicle so that the lever may be shifted to any of the three positions as shown by the dotted lines of the lever in Figs. .2 and 4t. Any of the three positions is selectively chosen by the occupant and can be identified as a forward drive, neutral or coasting position and a reverse drive. The lever 27 is held under tension 01 the spring 28 and can be moved into and out 01" any one of the three notches 33 in the plate 29, the notches being arranged to correspond to the two different drives and the neutral position.

Operation. Assuming that the occupant desires to propel the vehicle forward, he or she will more the shift lever 27, as shown in Fig. l, into the first notch. This movement will turn the head as to a position as shown in Fig. 2, whereby one hook ot the head will engage a link of the upper limb of the chain, the upper leai spring assisting the engagement by urging the chain toward the head and thus assure the connection. The occupant will then move the oscillating lever (not shown) of the vehicle in either direction and the pitman 12 end the crosshead 15 will move "forward, and thus pull the upper limb of the chain with it while the lower limb will move backward and the links thereof bump over the lowermost hook. The moving upperlimb will rotate the sprocket wheel 7 counterclockwise and impart a forward movement to the ground wheels. Another movement of the oscillating lever will reverse the direction of the crosshead, and the said lowermost hook will then grab or engage a link of the lower limb and pull the said limb in the same general direction of the chain travel, while the diagonal hook will this time bump over the links of the upper limb. the two leat springs all the while urging the limbs toward the head.

It the occupantdesires to coast, he will move the shift lever 2? into the middle notch and which will position the head 24- horizontally as indicated by the dot-and-dash center line 5.-5 of Fig. 2 and entirely out of engagement with the chain, so that the back and forth movement of the crosshead will be without etl'ect, and hence no movement thereof or of the oscillating lever is necessary.

For a reverse drive the occupant will shift the lever 27 into the last notch and which will turn the head as indicated by the dot-and-dash center line 55, so that the other pair of diagonal hooks will similarly and alternately engage the respective limbs of the chain and impart a movement thereto to rotate the sprocket wheel 7 clockwise and thus drive the vehicle backwards.

It is also to be observed that it the vehicle is being propelled forward or 'bacln ward on a grade, the occupant may. it he chooses, cease operating the oscillating lever and crossaead follower, and the momentum of the vehicle will cause the traveling chain to continue and to bump over at links of both limbs of the chain simultaneously. This action, in a measure, acts as a brake to check the acceleration of the vehicle. It it is desired to reengage or get in gear again with the links of the chain belt while going down grade, the occupant will again operate the oscillating lever and at a rate of speed just a little Faster than the moving chain, and it is obvious that this action will cause the hooks 25 to alternately slip into the links and continue the movement of the chain and the gradual stoppage of the same at the will of the operator.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and method of operation will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, and while I have described the principle of ,operation, together with the device which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the device shown is merely illustrative and that such changes may be made, when desired, as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is the following: I

1. In a transmission mechanism of the class described, an endless chain, a crosshead adapted to reciprocate along the chain, a chain grab on the crosshead for alternately engaging the upper and lower limbs of the chain for driving the same in a continuous direction, said chain grab comprising an elongated block disposed between the upper and lower limbs of the chain, chain engaging means on the block at the ends thereof and means for turning the block to move the chain engaging means thereof into engagement with the upper and lower limbs of the chain and vice versa as desired.

2. In a transmission mechanism of the class described, a pair of spaced parallel frame members, a sprocket wheel suspended from said members, an axle rigidly connected to the sprocket Wheel, an idler wheel also suspended from said frame members, an endless chain embracing said wheels, a crosshead embracing the chain and slidably mounted upon the frame members, means for sliding the crosshead, a chain grab carried by the crosshead comprising an elongated block having chain grabbing means thereon at its ends, said block being pivotally mounted between the upper and lower limbs of the chain, and means for turning the block to bring the chain grabbing means into alternate grabbing relation with the limbs of the chain.

In a crosshead structure for transmis sion mechanisms, a slidable housing, a chain having upper and lower limbs passing therethrough, a chain grab in said housing between the said upper and lower limbs, said chain grab having chain engaging means thereon at its ends, means for turning the grab through a predetermined angle to bring the chain grabbing means into alternate engagement with the limbs of t he chain, and spring means carried by said housing urg-' ing the limbs toward the said grab.

4. A structure as specified in claim 3 in which the said turning means is also adapted to move the chain grab into a neutral position whereby the said chain engaging means will be out limbs of the chain.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 2 and in Which the chain grab is adapted to assume a position whereby the said chain grabbing means will be out of engagement with both the upper and lower limbs of the chain.

6. In a transmission mechanism of the class described, a sliding crosshead, an endless chain passing therethrough having upper and lower limbs, an elongated plate on the crosshead disposed between the chain limbs, said plate having hooks formed at its respective end corners and means for turning the plate through an angle to bring a diagonal pair of hooks into alternate engagement with the chain limbs, means carried by said housing limbs toward the said hooks.

7. A structure as specified which the said plate turning adapted to turn the plate to sition whereby the said hooks will be out of engagement with both limbs of the chain.

In a transmission mechanism of the class described, a pair of spaced parallel urging the in claim 6 in means is also frame members, a crosshead slidably mounted between said members, said crosshead including a housing having downwardly presented side walls, channels formed at the upper ends of the walls to receive the frame members to guide the crosshead, an endless chain passing through the crosshead having upper and lower limbs, an elongated plate between the walls of the crosshead, a pin carried by the walls and on which said plate is keyed, a shift lever for turning said pin and with it the elongated plate, hooks at the respective end corners of the plate, said shift lever adapted to position the plate for alternately brin ing a pair of the diagonally positioned hoo rs into engagement with the upper and lower limbs or the chain.

9. A structure as specified in claim 8 in which the said shift leveris also adapted to turn the plate in a neutral position whereby the said hooks will be out of engagement with both the upper and lower limbs of the chain.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature,

FRED STARR.

of engagement with both and spring a neutral poill)

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